The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-23

do you. I used to trade with you when you
kept store in Portland twenty years ago.
you've got the advantage of me. sir" was
the reply
Come. now, can't you really recollect mel'
asked Blaine.
mo, cannot can't place you at all. Who
youl"
s.My name is Blaine
'.Whatl No, Not Jim Blaine-Speaker
Blainel
Eyes, I'm Jim Blaine, said Blaine, laughing.
But your hair and beard were sandy then"
Yes. But we grow old, Jones. You haven't
changed. though
When this Jones if that was his name last
saw Blaine, he employe on the Portland
Advertiser at 81. 200 year, and getting ready 10
leave because his salary was not raised to ST.
900 Probably Mr.. Jones never thought enough
ABOUT the poor newspaper man to Tx MS lace
very nrmly In his memory.
When Blaine elected Speaker it was said
that within twenty-four hours he knew every
member by name and sight and his State, dis
trlct and politics; though this remarkable ra-
pld1ty OF thorough memorizing has been equaled
by Carlisle who forgot but one members
face and name-Judge Nuttings, of New York
and greatly was Mr.. Carlisle panied at this slip
up. Many members get well into their second
term before they know all their associates even
by sight. to say nothing of their
A distinguished member of the House hap
pened to be sitting in the gallery one day with
newspaper correspondent. 1t was well to
the close of the second session y member
arose and made motion.
lis that man member of this Housed" asked
the distinguished member.
Yes. and this is his second term"
well, never nor heard of that man be-
FORE" and yet the man who made this remark
was regarded one of the leaders in the House.
Tom Reed would never have made such
fesslon- Ii he cultivates the habit of remember
ing names and faces, he gives no sign of such
habit. The gift seems to be a natural one with
him, and he once said that he looked a
man IN the face that some striking peculiar
1ty, a line. wrinkle expression about the
eyes, the setting of the lips the cant of the nose .
something set that mans face down in his mind
ineradicably and distinguished him from all the
rest of mankind. so that when man approached
him he would think, Here comes that man
Robinson whose right pupil is bigger than his
lett; or, This is Thompson, whose nose is SO
crooked" Mr.. Reed never stands ON person
alities, either.
MY names Reed: what's yoursl" is COM
gift has pulled him through one or two hard
struggles in Portland. for it has gained him
friends who stuck to him at a time when friends
were precious
Ex-Governor Long, of Massachusetts,, rather
brides himself on his ability to call everybody
by name whom he has ever met. and it pleases
him, too, to get the better of those whom he
thus approaches. 1t was said of the Governor
when he was an active politician in the Beacon
street State-house that he knew every man in
Massachusetts worth knowing. and a good
many who were not But every man who had
a vote was worth the acquaintance of John d.
Long. When he took his seat in Congress he
made it a point to introduce himself or be intro
duced to every one of his fellowmembers at
once, and before week had gone he could call
every member of the House by name. 1t didn't
cost him any friendship either
Levi Z. Morton has recently been reported as
saying that he had acquired the faculty of re-
membering names and faces, but that it had
cost him no little effort and practice. He fas-
tens name to a face by system of mnemonics,
and now allows no man to remind him that they
were once introduced to each other. But Mr..
Mortons motive is not selfish one, for of all
our public men none has a kinder heart or truer
sense of courtesy than he.
Marshall Jewell wed very much of the popu-
larity that carried him at one time to quite
lofty political heights to his faculty of calling
men at once by their names. He was every
bodys friend while tanner in Hartford, long
before he ever thought of entering politics. and
very greatly did this faculty aid him during
his canvasses for Governor.
In this respect he differed from Gen. Hawley
whose greatest weakness as politician is his
inability to remember faces and names. He
has so often wounded men through this failing
that an impression has prevailed, which does
him great injustice, that he is naughty and
snubs because he wishes to. In fact, his friends
have often been called upon to apologize for
what men thought rudeness. and many times
has the complaint been heard that Hawley was
a man whom you needed to be introduced to
every time you met him. But he is the last
man willing to give offense in this way He
simply does not remember.
Another Connecticut man served six consecu-
tive terms in Congress, largely because he never
forgot man whom he once met and not only
knew him again when they met but recalled the
names OF all his relatives. His capacity in this
respect was wonderful and it was said while he
was in Congress that he knew more of the gov
eminent clerks by name than any half-dozen
Congressman altogether did. This was the ven
cradle John L. Waite, whose services in Con-
gress expired with the last session.
Senator Matt Ransom owes his influence in
North Carolina almost wholly to this gift. No
matter how grizzly the farmers beard, nor how
faded his butternut trousers, Ransom knows his
name. and gives him grip when he meets him.
though it may have been score of years since
last they met. Malone, of Virginia was
reputed to know every soldier in his brigade by
name. and he could call more men in Virginia
by their names during his political canvasses
than any other politician there. Governor
Green, of New Jersey, and ex Senator Thomas
G. Platt also possess this faculty.